A Goddess' Prowess

2

"Hyrule Castle?"

Swiftblade was sitting back down on the tatami mats, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

Farore stood staring at the man, her hand fidgeting with the string of her necklace. Even though Farore was standing up, she was still no taller than Swiftblade. Even while sitting, he could still look down at Farore at his height.

"Miss Farore."

Farore looked up expectantly at the tall man, only to blink suddenly out of surprise. Swiftblade had his eyes narrowed and his lips pursed into a small line, exhibiting an interrogative, almost angry expression that Farore would not have expected out of the man. Had he figured out something?

"Yes?" Farore said, raising an eyebrow.

"Excuse me for asking, but why do you need to go to Hyrule Castle?" asked Swiftblade.

Swiftblade barely blinked when he received Farore's answer.

"I must speak with someone."

"Might I ask who?" said Swiftblade.

Farore bit her lower lip and stared at her toes, looking like a child that had just broken a vase and couldn't confront her mother. Farore knew her answer was too vague. But still, she could come up with the excuse that she and Swiftblade had just met. There was no need to tell him everything about her. There was no need to tell anyone everything. That was part of her policy, after all.

Swiftblade let out a sigh. "I won't press you for an answer, but if it's the queen you want to meet, you can get a public audience with her set up with city relations."

"But can I? I'm on the run from the law, aren't I? And even if I didn't have a bounty on my head, I doubt that the queen would want to meet with a girl that looks only to be around nine or ten," said Farore.

Swiftblade opened his mouth, but Farore interrupted him before he could get a chance to speak:

"And yes, I am older than I look."

Much older, Farore thought, but she kept that to herself. She didn't want Swiftblade to start suspecting her now.

"That relieves me slightly," said Swiftblade. "Although, I'm curious to know about what else you did that would warrant an arrest of you. It's not as if you led those dogs to the market on purpose, you said so yourself, right?"

Farore shook her head.

"Yes, I did say that. But would the police believe me? They need someone to pin the blame on, after all, who's going to pay for all of this?" Farore said.

"But you're still a minor, aren't you? I'm sure that there will be compensations done for your expense, all of the responsibility can't possibly be attached to you."

Farore kept silent, avoiding Swiftblade's worried gaze. She couldn't possibly tell him that whether or not she was a minor didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. She was a girl named Farore, and also held the Triforce of Courage, no less! Just revealing that would cause any sort of chance at reconciliation to go flying out of the window.

Much to Farore's surprise and pleasure, however, Swiftblade was kind - tactful? - enough to change the subject.

"You still need to go to the castle, correct?" Swiftblade said. "If you need a private audience with someone, then I've got just the thing. Do you need to go somewhere specific?"

Farore opened her mouth and hesitated. Should she tell him? Her judgment told her yes. It wasn't as though she was distrustful of Swiftblade or wanted to avoid any probing questions about her. The possible loopholes that might appear if she let her tongue slip were what she was afraid of.

But Farore was not one to believe in the worst. What was important to think about now was how she could get to her destination quickly, and Swiftblade might be the one to provide the answer, seeing how he seemed to know something. Farore couldn't let this chance go to waste. She had to tell him, and tell him in what was assuredly a confident and unsuspicious manner.

Summoning up some courage, Farore said to him clearly:

"I need to get to the inner courtyard of Hyrule Castle."

Farore watched Swiftblade's reaction closely. If he was surprised, he didn't show it. Farore took a small breath of relief. What had she been worrying for?

Scratching his stubbled chin, Swiftblade said to her calmly, "Hm. The inner courtyard?"

"Um, yes," said Farore.

"That's a pretty hidden place, from what I've heard. Do you know where it is, exactly?" Swiftblade asked.

"Not exactly," said Farore, shaking her head. She reached into her bag and pulled out a scroll. "But I do know the general area it's in. Here's a map. The courtyard I'm looking for is in the inner part of the gardens, I believe."

Swiftblade accepted the map and examined it carefully. He looked at a spot where Farore had circled sometime in red ink; a square patch of green located on the western side of Hyrule Castle. From what the map showed, there were no visitor entrances leading into the gardens. The gardens were isolated from the rest of the castle, surrounded by walls on one side and a deep moat on the other.

"These gardens look pretty impenetrable," Swiftblade remarked.

Farore kept silent, looking downcast at the floor. She didn't have very much hope in finding an entrance to the castle. As far as she knew, she ruined her chances of sneaking in by causing a commotion at the central plaza right before the castle, so an upfront approach was ruled out. And now that she had caused a ruckus around town, she couldn't even search for other options without being spotted and called into custody. There seemed to be no options left, but Farore desperately had to find one if she wanted to follow through her mission.

Farore jumped when she heard the sound of Swiftblade's knuckles rap against the map. She felt herself become covered with a shadow when her map was tossed back into her arms.

"But wait! I think I know just the solution!" said Swiftblade, standing up.

"Eh?" Farore said, putting her map away quickly. "Really?"

Swiftblade answered Farore's question by quickly heading towards the back of the room, where the scrolls hiding hidden alcoves hoarding swords hung to the left and right of a wide, floor-to-ceiling height mirror.

Farore watched Swiftblade's movements closely, keeping silent as she listened to the sounds of Swiftblade's sandals patter on the tatami flooring.

"Are you going to - " Farore began, only to stop when she saw Swiftblade pause beside the mirror.

Swiftblade glanced at Farore blankly, an inscrutable expression on his face. Then, focusing his attention on the mirror, Swiftblade pressed on the edge of it, and Farore jumped back, shocked to find the mirror move into the wall. Farore could feel her jaw drop as the mirror ground on gigantic hinges, revealing a far greater opening than any of the tiny scrolls could ever have hidden.

Breathlessly, Farore asked, "Is that... a revolving wall?"

Once the mirror was rotated a full ninety degrees and revealed a wide, catfish-mouthed opening to a tunnel in the wall, Swiftblade turned around and nodded to her.

"It's a secret passage of sorts that leads to the castle," explained Swiftblade, smiling slyly. "Right to the gardens, incidentally."

"That's amazing," said Farore, her eyes sparkling. The whole thing seemed like something you would see in a trick house. She paused, and her expression changed when she continued, "But why would there be such a thing in a sword-training facility?"

Swiftblade avoided her gaze. "It's a long story. Let's just say that I use it to visit some family that reside near Hyrule Castle. Please don't tell anyone about this."

"Ah," said Farore, with a small nod. "I understand."

Farore knew that there were at least seven Blade Brothers, all of which resided in secret dens throughout all of Hyrule. Whether they would hide behind a waterfall, a cliffside cave, or even the underground tunnels of Hyrule, the Blade Brothers would pass their skills only to those who could find them. Swiftblade seemed to be the only exception by opening up a dojo publically in the heart of Hyrule, the capital. Farore guessed that there needed to be some way for the brothers to pass down their skills more easily, and earn some income at that. Swiftblade must be using this cavern to meet one of his reclusive brothers.

"This was what I was probably talking about earlier," Swiftblade said. "You can take this secret passage straight to the castle gardens without fearing risk of being detected."

"This is really unbelievable," Farore said. She walked over to him and grasped his hands in hers. "I can't thank you enough. You've saved me from a dead end, in more ways than one."

Swiftblade looked away, blushing. "It's nothing, really."

Swiftblade's eyes trailed around the room, stopping only when he saw and read the time on a small clock perched on a spindly little table. His eyes widened. The man quickly freed his hands from Farore's to gesture at the hole in the wall.

Farore was surprised by the sudden movement. She said with a stutter, "Wh-What's the matter?"

"My afternoon lesson at three is about to begin," Swiftblade said as he unceremoniously ushered Farore over to the passage in the wall. "I can't risk your safety here if you don't leave now. Take this passage straight from here to reach the castle. It should lead out into the gardens."

Farore looked back around Swiftblade's waist to see if she had left anything behind in the room. She felt her feet slide from a tatami floor onto uneven rock, the area around her darken considerably as she entered the cave. Instead of proceeding forward, Farore turned around to look at what Swiftblade was doing.

"Be careful. There may be guards," said Swiftblade, as he quickly ran from Farore and over to the mirror to turn it back into its original position.

Farore seemed a little puzzled at this.

"Didn't you press a button or something to make the mirror move out like that?" Farore asked.

"Yes, but there isn't one to put it back into its proper place," answered Swiftblade, pushing against the front of the mirror with a grunt.

Farore's face contorted when she began to hear the mirror's edges grind against the floor and ceiling.

"Anyhow," Swiftblade continued as he continued to push. Farore's ears perked up. "I'm sorry that I can't accompany you. This journey is one for you to take."

"Oh, no, you've done more for me than I could ever thank you for. I appreciate it," replied Farore.

"It was nice meeting you, Miss Farore."

"It was nice to meet you as well, Swiftblade," Farore said with a smile. "Thank you for everything."

Swiftblade paused for a moment in his mirror pushing, processing what he had just heard. Did she really just say his - ?

"I do wonder why you have gone such a far length to help me as you did," said Farore, tilting her head slightly as though she were a curious pug.

Swiftblade peered around the side of the mirror and exclaimed without stopping his pushing, "Didn't I tell you before? That's the duty of a master swordsman!"

Farore couldn't help but chuckle. Swiftblade was truly a nobly foolish being.

"You're a good man," said Farore, covering her mouth.

Swiftblade seemed a bit affronted by her behavior. Scowling slightly, he shouted at her:

"Hey! Why aren't you running yet? Don't you have an appointment to keep with someone?"

Farore turned around, trying to stifle her chuckles without success. As she began to walk forward into the passage, she heard Swiftblade call out once more from behind her.

"Miss Farore! Let us meet again sometime!" Swiftblade's voice echoed through the tunnel.

Farore turned her head around, and seeing the last modicum of light peek through a crack between the wall of the cave and the mirror, Farore called back to him:

"We will! Don't worry!"

And with that, the backside of the mirror closed against the wall, leaving Farore smiling to herself in darkness as she headed towards the gardens of Hyrule Castle.

"Ugh, this smell..."

If there was one question that Farore could have asked Swiftblade regarding the secret passage before she had entered, it was whether or not the 'underground tunnels' were actually a part of the city's sewers instead.

"Why didn't I notice this pungent odor sooner?" said Farore, pinching her nose.

Farore plodded forward along the tunnel, making sure to step as far away from the current of dirty water as possible. She did not want to fall in and end up deposited on the opposite end of the city. One of her hands was pressed against the wall, serving as a guide of sorts in the near darkness of the tunnel. Farore hoped dearly that there weren't rats infesting the place, or anything else creepy and icky, for that matter, such as a Like Like. Losing her necklace to one of them spelled out an automatic game over for her.

Farore slowly continued to walk in a straight line, detouring only when something like an overturned oil drum was in her way. Puddles of sickly green liquid flooded the sides of the tunnel. It didn't take long before Farore's stockings were completely soaked, her boots becoming completely drenched with sewage water. And her hair! Farore's hair had dropped out of their buns and was now frizzy with all that added moisture and humidity. The smell would take forever to wash out of everything, but these were small sacrifices if it meant she could reach the castle gardens in such a prompt and direct manner.

"Who am I kidding? These are terrible sacrifices," Farore said, groaning. "I'm going to smell terrible for weeks. And these are the only clothes I have, too."

Farore, feeling sullen, didn't even spend the energy to avoid a large puddle in front of her. She felt water droplets splash onto her boots and legs, the bottom of her tunic also being caught in the crossfire.

"I told Swiftblade about the unlikelihood of me meeting the queen even without having caused those commotions. I wonder what the chances are now, seeing how dirty I am," grumbled Farore. "Ugh, that means those police officers were right about me being bedraggled after all."

After walking for what felt like an hour or so, Farore was panting, still clenching her nose tightly. Whoever told her that your nose adapted to smells within a minute or so was horrendously wrong. No matter what, she would never get used to that smell of raw sewage.

Farore didn't have to tolerate the smell for much longer, however, when she saw a dead end, some limelight pan down from the ceiling near what was assuredly a ladder. Farore's eyes widened, and she began to run down the tunnel, her energy having returned within a flash.

Farore jumped over a few puddles and made her way to the end of the tunnel. She placed a hand on a rung of the ladder. The cold metal felt wet and sticky, but that was not enough to deter her from beginning a long and arduous climb. The bad thing about this situation was that Farore couldn't keep a hand on her nose to prevent herself from smelling those foul odors, but she grinned and bore it with surprising vitality. Nothing would prevent her from pausing her climb if it meant that she could escape the sewers.

As Farore climbed, a thought kept running through her mind:

Her exit was here!

"Finally, I'm out of that hellhole!"

A pair of grubby hands slapped on the top of a circular formation of rocks. After a few moments, a disheveled green head popped up, its big green eyes peeking around the vicinity to inspect the area for threats After making sure the area was safe, the head popped back down into the hole again. Then, after a few seconds of stillness, a leg suddenly swung out, followed by an arm, and then the body of a small girl. Squinting at the sudden flood of light, Farore sat up. She had reached the castle gardens.

Farore climbed down from the circle of rocks and glanced around again, just to make sure that there weren't any hidden guards or sentries. All she could see were perfectly groomed hedges shaped into boring slabs that would never make it into a topiary garden. There weren't even any trees or flowers. Some royal garden this was.

Thinking that everything was safe, Farore took her first step forward... Only to slip and take a pratfall onto the grass.

"Ow..." Farore couldn't help groan. She hoped no one heard her fall. Or saw her fall, for that matter.

Farore got up, rubbing the back of her head. What did she slip on? She felt around the ground and her hands clenched upon something pointy yet round. She opened her eyes and found a small brown nut resting in her hand. There were identical ones scattered all around her, she noticed.

Acorns?

Farore fingered the nut. She wondered if these could be of any use.

Perhaps, if any guards heard her, she would be able to hide and just toss one of these out into the open, and then the guards would think that the noise was made by a stray squirrel or something. Not a very foolproof plan, but it could serve as back-up. Plus, Farore was hungry. The acorns might prove to become a useful ingredient for some stew in the future. That reason was enough to warrant her decision then, Farore decided. She grabbed a few and stuffed them into her pockets.

Farore saw only one path she could take out of this room, so she took it and walked slowly around a corner. As soon as she did, however, she saw a guard standing with his back towards her at the end of a long corridor. Farore paused for a moment before running back around the corner. She didn't expect to come across a guard this soon! In retrospect, it may have been better this way; better to put your guard up early rather than lose your guard amidst a lull of false security.

After taking a few deep breaths, Farore peeked her head around the corner. The guard was gone. Now was her chance!

Hoping that she had enough courage to pull this off, Farore's heart thumped painfully in her chest as she began to traipse down the corridor. She made it halfway thriugh when she saw the bobbing hat of the guard come towards her way again. Shocked, Farore quickly looked around for a place to hide, and thankfully, there were quite a few alcoves in the walls that would hide her from sight. Farore slipped into one nearby and waited, listening to the guard's footsteps get louder as he got closer and gradually diminish as he walked away again.

Farore wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead with her sleeve. Boy, she had never felt as stealthy as this before. She wondered how assassins performed their jobs so cooly, without a hint of fear. It takes a different kind of courage to act like that. She stepped out of the alcove, looking around once more for the guard, of which there only seemed to be one. Farore hustled over to the end of the corridor. She glanced around the room, spotting not a single guard around. He was in her blind spot currently, possibly standing at the opposite corner of the room, looking around for intruders.

Farore saw in the room that there weren't any places with thick shadows, nor any pots to hide in. The only places to hide in were in the hedges. If the guard was patrolling in a circular fashion, she would have to get past him once somehow, which meant the hedges. But doing so would alert the guard of her presence, with the rustling leaves and all. What could she do when she was in that situation?

The squirrel plan! That was it. Might as well give it a shot.

When Farore heard the guard resume walking again, she waited until she saw the man's had bob above the closest hedge before diving into the hedge beside her. Much like she predicted, the sound of rustling leaves alerted the guard, who Farore heard came dashing towards her with his clanking armor. Farore held her breath. Peeking from a gap in the branches, she could see the man's feet step warily near her location. Time to bust out the acorns.

Farore reached into her pocket to pull out a handful of acorns. Making sure her hand wasn't sticking out of the bush, Farore tossed one of the acorns out in front of the guard's feet.

The guard walked forward, his head turning from side to side as he tried to locate the source of the noise. Farore watched him carefully, holding her breath when the guard was steps away from the acorn. His head turned forward, and a long leg stretched out. Did he see the acorn? Was he really going to fall for her ploy?

The guard stepped forward. But instead of spotting the acorn, he stepped on it instead. Farore shut her eyes; she didn't have to watch any further to know what was going to happen. The guard's eyes bulged out in surprise. Without even being able to give a cry, he fell onto the ground with a loud, resounding crash.

A metallic helmet came rolling towards the hedge Farore was hiding in, stopping when it came in contact with the bush. Farore opened her eyes and saw a man lying down on the ground. The guard had fallen unconscious.

Farore let out a small squeak. In her defense, her plan worked, albeit not in the way she intended.

Farore realized that she had to take this opportunity to make her way to the next room, lest more guards coming in to see this ruckus. The little girl swam through the hedge and stepped out the end of it, leaves and branches coating her clothes and hair. Farore shook her head and quickly ran past the fallen guard to the next room.

Great, I'm out of acorns.

Farore was running along the last corridor before the tunnel that led to the inner courtyard of the castle gardens. Seeing how her squirrel plan worked so well the first time, Farore decided to use it whenever she came across a guard. That last room with three guards in standing in the same spot made it a bit difficult for her to execute her plan, however. But somehow, by throwing a handful of acorns down onto the ground in desperation, she had caused all of them to trip and fall, knocking each other down like bowling pins. She made it past them amidst the chaos, but in doing so, she used up her last remaining acorns.

Looks like no acorn stew for me tonight, Farore thought with a grumble.

Farore took a quick glance behind her to see if any guards were behind her. Somehow, she, a little girl, had traversed through the castle gardens without being detected by what should have been the most elite of guards in all of Hyrule. One might have called it luck that brought her this far. Farore didn't knock out the possibility of further obtacles laying ahead, however. Having learned her lesson by now, Farore decided to save her sighs of relief for a more opportune time. The last thing she needed was to be caught at this final stretch, just moments away before the finish line.

But even so, Farore couldn't help but let out a squeak. She looked up and around the wide tunnel she had reached, which was tall enough to let horseriders and some of the smaller of Gorons pass through. The amount of cobblestone and masonry work put into building this tunnel, much less the entire castle, was staggering. As Farore looked and walked around inside one the castle's structures, she began to understand why so many people came to the city of Hyrule just to see the beauty of the castle.

"Wow," Farore whispered to herself, fingering the string of her necklace. She noticed her slow speed of walking and continued, "I should probably go a little faster."

Farore elevated her walk into that of a small jog, her soft footsteps now sounding crunchier as she dashed on the grass. The tunnel was long, but there were more than enough breathtaking views through the tunnel windows along the way. Granted, she couldn't have seen much, for she was probably trotting at a quicker pace than she would have liked in order to take in the sights. That may have been for the better, though, as Farore could not risk dilly-dallying to stop by and smell the flowers when she had a mission to do. At least this tunnel was not a part of the sewers, Farore mused.

There was no noise in the tunnel except for the sounds of Farore's heavy breathing and footsteps. No animals were present; birds wouldn't be calling at this hour, much to Farore's lament. Perhaps there might be some in the inner courtyard. There always were birds and forest animals in clearings where maidens lie. Farore could picture it now: a kind, saintly, modestly dressed woman singing a clear cut song from the heavens - one that had lyrics devoted to her, preferably - while placing freshly picked flowers into a self-woven basket, surrounded by critters such as rabbits, squirrels, deer, and singing robins.

Farore hoped that there would be no guards at the entrance of the courtyard to ruin her glorious image, even though she already knew that the castle's inner courtyard was one of the few safe and incorruptible havens of the castle.

Within a minute, Farore saw a bright light at the end of tunnel. Farore shielded her eyes, but did not stop her running. From what she saw, there were no disfigurements in the white, round lighting ahead of her, signifying that it was likely no guards were waiting for her.

And then, just like that, Farore burst out of the tunnel and into the open, the sudden sunlight blinding her for a moment as she tried to regain her whereabouts.

The inner courtyard was, shockingly, almost exactly the same as the clearing in her imagination. Very rarely did one's daydreams come to life right in front of their eyes. There was sunlight filtering through the assortment of trees surrounding the perimeter of the courtyard, birds tweeting among the branches, and rows of blooming flowers planted in neat little gated-off squares.

And standing there, in the back of the courtyard on a small pedestal to complete the image, was a woman in glittering attire gazing through a window with her back facing Farore. Farore had no doubt that there would be a basket of flowers in her hands. The vision was too perfect for there to not have been. Farore walked forward, the sound of her footsteps crunching on the grass alerting the woman of her presence. Farore stopped dead in her tracks.

The woman turned around, doing so slowly so that her shimmering veil did not flutter off of her head. Eyes of ruby red gazed inquiringly at the new visitor. The face that met hers took Farore's breath away; she couldn't help but let out a gasp. Farore clutched the string of her necklace and backed up towards the entrance.

"You! You're not Queen Zelda," said Farore.

The woman smiled, her knowing eyes telling all sorts of tales. With a tanned hand, she reached up for her veil, and in one swift motion, whisked it away, revealing her identity as the person that masqueraded as the queen - Queen Zelda, who was the one Farore was expecting to meet the most out of this guard-infested castle.

In a deep, rich, and melodious voice, the woman said to Farore, "And you, miss? You are not Link, the bearer of the Triforce of Courage."

A/N: And there's the classic scene of OoT (and for those who haven't played it, Spirit Tracks is a fine alternative) subverted in the name of Farore! Who is this mystery woman? There seems to be two possibilities, but there's really only one (I hope).